Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown
Also known as: parallel grip lat pulldown, close grip neutral lat pulldown, v-bar lat pulldown, twin handle lat pulldown, hammer grip lat pulldown
In SetGrip: Lat Pulldown (Parallel Grip)
Neutral handles with palms facing each other put your wrists and elbows in their most comfortable pulling position and guide the arms down in front of the body rather than flared wide. Many lifters move a bit more weight here than with an overhand bar, which makes it a reasonable pick for your heavier pulldown work.
How to do the Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown
- Adjust the seat height and position yourself facing the cable machine.
- Grasp the handles with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart.
- Sit down and position your thighs under the thigh pads, keeping your feet flat on the floor.
- Lean back slightly and keep your chest up, maintaining a neutral spine.
- Pull the handles down towards your upper chest, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- Pause for a moment at the bottom of the movement, feeling the contraction in your lats.
- Slowly release the handles and return to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Tip: Pull the elbows toward your hips, not the bar toward your chin.
Muscles worked
Primary
Lats · Back
The lats pull the upper arm down and in, and you should feel a stretch at the top of the rep and a squeeze at the bottom along the sides of the back.
Common mistakes
- Rowing the bar — a slight lean is fine but if the torso swings past 30 degrees you are rowing, not pulling down; sit tall and let the elbows travel straight down.
- Pulling behind the neck by accident — unless you are deliberately training the behind-the-neck version light with good shoulder mobility, bring the bar to the top of the chest and no further.
- Starting with the arms — initiate by pulling the shoulders down away from the ears, then let the elbows follow.
- Stack slamming on the return — control the bar all the way back up until the arms are straight and the lats are stretched.
Where it fits in a workout
Pulldowns go after pull-ups or as the main vertical pull if you cannot do pull-ups yet. Superset with a straight arm pulldown or cable row on the same stack.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Variations and alternatives
Similar exercises
Without cable
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
Track the Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown in SetGrip
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More exercises
Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.